Influencing the Mind

Speakers use words to influence the minds of their listerners. Writers use language to affect and influence their readers. 

Connotation: A connotation is an implied meaning. Words can have associations other than their literal meaning.

Emotive Language: Writers often seek to arouse certain feelings or emotions in the reader, for example, pity or anger. This can be done by using emotive language e.g. words and phrases that have certain connotations. A reporter writing about a crime could write for example, “a burglar stole some jewellery from Mr Bolton’s house.” This just tells us the facts. If a writer wanted to influence our emotions, they  might write, for example, “a heartless burglar stole jewellery of great sentimental value from the frail pensioner, Albert Bolton.” The word ‘heartless’ makes someone sound deliberately cruel. The word “frail” implies vulnerability and helpless. The term ‘of great sentimental value’ tells us how important the jewellery was to Mr Bolton, and increases our sympathy for him. 

Left and right brain hemispheres

Though it is generally accepted by the New Age that the right and left hemispheres perform different tasks, and are different in males and females, this is untrue. Sadly, the New Age has no education in many of the disciplines it speaks so knowledgeably about such as this complex area of brain anatomy and action. 

The right and left hemispheres are not distinct areas, there is a great deal of interaction required. There are areas of the brain that lie dormant, some are overactive, some only active at certain times. If one area is damaged, another area is brought into action to compensate. People who are right handed have a dominant left hemisphere and those who are left handed have a left hemisphere dominance. 

There are some male/female differences. Males are often more visual and therefore are architects, artists, surgeons, engineers, car drivers, and those who work with a 3D ability, though some women also have this area of the brain highly developed. Women often have greater speech abilities and writing skills, though the same applies, that men also can develop this area and use it skillfully. 

Trauma Bonding

What is trauma bonding? 

Dysfunctional behaviour as a result of mental instability or addictions such as alcohol, drugs or gambling can result in distress for both parties, and all parties within the relationship, whether family, friends or work colleagues, neighbours, health services and strangers. Those who have these traits, eg., unreliability, selfishness, negative thinking, blaming and not taking responsibility, manipulation, attention seeking, lying, demanding and/or aggressive behaviour have often had a childhood of confusing and destabiling messages from carers and take the confusion and chaos into their adult relationships. Addictions exacerbate these traits.

Alessandra Belloni

I would like to introduce my readers to Alessandra Belloni, a female performer born in Italy but living in New York. Over 35 years she has made pilgrimages to the sites of the mysterious Black Madonnas in Southern Italy. Her work is extremely impressive and known across the world. She has traced the mysteries back to the Earth Goddess and the long lost deities of Greece, Rome Egypt and Africa. The sacred places pre-date Christianity and many places have retained their magic. Saints days involve meditation, sacred chanting and ecstatic dancing in the sea or walking barefoot in the mountains, some of the rites continue for many hours throughout the night, and the trances produced can be licentious when men and women dance together! The dance of the Tarantella, a dance that mimics the bite of the tarantula spider, are from this region of Europe and relate to the 'bite' of passionate and unfulfilled love. Its complex rhythms have been used for healing abuse, addiction, trauma and depression.  

Maturity

 I was looking at maturity between men and women, and though one finds exceptions, women are generally maturer than men and this is probably why many partnerships occur between men who are a few  years older than their female partner. The problem with a lack of maturity is that it hurts the person themselves, often through a lack of self discipline, and hurts those around them, and sometimes society itself. Immaturity is so wasteful. Mature people are reliable, conscientious contributors to health and life, for those around them and for society too. 

Why should this be? Females are introduced to care giving roles while they are still children often encouraged to look after dolls and then other younger children. When they reach their menarche, around the very early teenage years, they realise their body is preparing each month to bear a child. This monthly process continues for around thirty years, and can have uncomfortable effects, headaches, stomach aches, iron anaemia, etc. Pregnancy too has its difficulties, especially around working life. Child bearing and child rearing and baby health care are usually also the expected role of women. Toilet training, eating with cutlery, walking, talking, reading, and the teaching of the proper behaviour of a polite and peaceful child is often also seen as women’s work. Women are also expected to be the home makers and home managers and often are the care givers within the family, to care for the older generation. These duties require great altruism, empathy, responsibility, thoughtfulness and consideration. The delayed gratification of placing another’s wishes before one’s own is a self sacrifice that many around the world have no choice but to make. 

Dogs!

There are an estimated 8 million dogs in the U.K. which has a long standing reputation as an animal loving nation.

1.9 million dogs are left alone for long hours, often without water or toilet facilities. 

2.4 million never see a vet and are not fed or treated well. 

4 million dogs are thought to be suffering from mental or physical distress because owners are irresponsible and uneducated. 

7% are fed chocolate, played with roughly, are kept in a cage or outdoors.

Dogs are emotionally intelligent! They are excellent companions, especially for elderly people. Walking a dog is an ideal way to keep fit and people in the street often stop to talk to someone with a dog. Dogs have been bred for 10,000 years to be helpers, guardians and “mans' best friend”. They come in a variety of sizes and there is a dog to suit everyone’s requirements. 

However, dogs have many needs. They can live for 14 years during which time they have daily requirements for attention and are a considerable financial expense. If you buy a dog, you need to buy it from a reputable source. No puppy should be taken from its mother before 8 weeks or it will have behavioural problems. Puppies need to be handled caringly whilst still very young if they are to be comfortable with humans. If you buy from a breeder, always see the conditions the mother has lived in, as the mother will teach her offspring many things during those early weeks of life, including preliminary toilet training and for females, how to be a loving mother. Avoid getting a dog from a pet shop or a puppy farm. Selective breeding causes hidden genetic defects and mongrels are thought to be the healthiest and happiest of dogs. 

Humanistic Psychology

Humanistic Psychology has the basic premise that we are born as pure and loving organisms (unlike many religious views that we are born evil). As pure and loving beings, appreciating closeness, nurturing and contact (no mammal species survive without it), we are on our way at birth to receive and give love and appreciation. This natural loving ability is also a means to heal and relate to others and to develop ourselves as powerful, creative and spontaneous. In the past, we were told we were born evil, and needed to have that evil removed from us through schooling, home life and through parental and teacher relationships. This oppression causes us to bottle up our true emotions, and we do not utter our real thoughts which are obstructed and suppressed rather than release them appropriately, whilst respecting and caring for others and understanding that they have suffered abuse under this misguided belief. 

4 of Swords

Keywords: withdrawal, introspection, regeneration. 

This card guides us to pause, to spend time in solitude, to still our mind, take stock, and review the past in order to be able to gain wisdom by understanding our situations in a new and realistic light. 

Quote from Einstein: I think 99 times and find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in silence, and the truth comes to me. 

The Lydney Excavation

Temple site excavated by Sir Mortimer Wheeler in 1920s. 

At the end of the fourth century, a temple complex on a hill overlooking the Severn estuary at Lydney, Gloucestershire, was built to the god Nodens. Finds at Lydney show the Nodens was a healing deity, and that pilgrims offered votive figures of dogs. These animals were mascots of healing throughout the ancient world. Nodens was likely to be connected to the sea and this temple was found to have a mosaic (now lost), of fish and sea monsters. Nodens corresponds with two figures of Celtic mythology, Irish Nuadha and Welsh Nudd, later Lludd. Lludd is the legendary king of Britain who fortified London and was buried at Ludgate. Both Nuadha and Lludd were involved in defending their kingdoms against invaders. At Lydney and London, Nodens may have been a god of the headland guarding a great estuary and this a national tutelary god. The patrons of Lydney were perhaps wealthy Romanised Celts of the great Cotswold villas, such as Chedworth. Built at the closing years of the Roman Empire, when Britain was under threat of barbaric invasion, and when paganism was giving ground to Christianity, Lydney could have been defiant against the new order. 

SoulCollage Workshop

This is a report of a workshop conducted by Abigail who is trained facilitator with SoulCollage.
She brings the images to use, which are of a variety of people, places, etc.,
These are glued to a small white card. From these images, spontaneous words are created.
The two sentences are: I Am One Who: followed by This is my Message to you Today:
These three following are my own choice of cutting and pasting on card and words following
when the imagery is consulted.
The process is designed to access inner wisdom.
SoulCollage is a Registered Trade Mark and SoulCollage facilitators are specially trained.
To find a trained facilitator, visit: https://www.soulcollage.com/
To contact Abigail for London SoulCollage (R) workshops, click on this link:
abigail@collagediscovery.com

Sun Cycle Cards

I chose number 4, Hemera, Rebirth. She is the primordial embodiment of the day who disperses the mists of the night, and bathes the world in heavenly light. When we experience a life changing transformation, we return to a world where old meanings no longer hold value for us, and we feel a displacement. When the regular world no longer makes sense, we begin to find new meaning, we see with fresh eyes, and need to make appropriate changes. This transformation is taking place, emerging from darkness to a life changing period that brings wisdom. This takes time, bravery and exploration. A new year has been born, with a new self for loving and nurturing, to grow to full potential. The journey has been challenging but the result is an awakening and a surfacing from night into the day, changed, reinvigorated and renewed. Mythic Oracle. 

Wayne Dyer

Dr Wayne Dyer on immobilisation: 

You can’t talk lovingly to your loved ones when you want to. You can’t work on a project that interests you. You don’t make love and would like to. You sit in the house all day and brood. You don’t take part in  enjoyable activities, because of a leftover, annoying feeling. You can’t introduce yourself to someone who appeals to you. You avoid talking to someone when a simple gesture would improve your relationship. You can’t sleep because something is bothering you. When your anger keeps you from thinking clearly. You say something abusive to someone that you love. Your face twitches and you are so nervous that you don’t function the way you want to. 

All negative emotions result in some degree of self immobility. Is there a payoff/ secondary gain? 

It is a tough assignment to be happy. Your ultimate freedom is to have choices. 

Introducing Anna Ziman

Anna Ziman

In the Sunday Times 'Style' Magazine, columnist Stephanie Theobald described my next guest, Anna Ziman as 'a big name in the Goddess world'. Anna provided an opportunity for women to discover ancient feminine energies and embrace the magical and mystical realm. Here she speaks to Wendy about her life path and her work with the Goddess. Anna left the physical world in 2019 but her words and work live on. 

Wendy: Anna, how did you get involved with the Goddess?